


Far away you were made in a sea just like me

by Wolfsheart



Series: Hemispheres [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Marriage, Sexy Times, Surprise Marriage, Sweet, Tony Stark's technology, Wakandan Technology, anniversary party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21663718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfsheart/pseuds/Wolfsheart
Summary: Tony wakes up one day in an alternate universe where he and Loki are married. And by wakes up, he literally wakes up in bed with Loki and instead of trying to kill him- the Loki he wakes up with smiles, wishes him a good morning, and kisses him. Tony panics at first, but after spending time in this life with Loki he begins to wonder...is it really so bad?
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Loki
Series: Hemispheres [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623811
Comments: 43
Kudos: 311





	Far away you were made in a sea just like me

**Author's Note:**

> This fic came out of [a FrostIron Tumblr prompt, found here](https://frost-iron.tumblr.com/post/188350642922/frostiron-fic-prompt-tony-wakes-up-one-day-in-an). This was a true labor of love, as the evil Writers Block held my brain and ability to write for years now. I've taken out the 'Alternate Ending' note because this story is now officially a multi-part, multi-chapter fic.

* * *

_A damsel with a dulcimer_

_In a vision once I saw:_

_It was an Abyssinian maid_

_And on her dulcimer she played,_

_Singing of Mount Abora._

It was the gray light that gently tugged him from sleep. 

Tony squinted, and at first, he wanted to grouse and tell the cloudy morning to go fuck itself; he wasn't ready to wake up. Especially when a warm body spooned against his, a creamy-skinned arm draped over his side, and the hand that belonged to it cupped his belly. That was enough to make him smile and close his eyes again, his own hand slipping away from where it rested between his cheek and pillow to settle on that other hand. 

This must not be one of his many flings that he picked up at a bar or conference because he felt no need to get out of bed and begin the Ritual of Escape. He didn't have the urge to run and leave Pepper to 'take out the trash', as she so often explained it. 

_Wait. Is that Pepper behind me?_

Tony caressed the knuckles of the hand on his stomach, and while the hand was fine-boned and nimble, it was certainly not the hand of a woman. 

Definitely not Pepper's. 

Still, that body felt so good against his back; not bed-warm the way he would've expected. It was cooler than most bodies, though not uncomfortably so, and Tony snuggled back against it all the same, feeling this lover's arm tighten against him. 

He said _fuck it_ to the outside world and responsibilities again, ready to drift off. Ready to ignore the meetings lined up for him, the half a dozen projects in his lab, and the business luncheon he no doubtedly was supposed to attend that was Incredibly Important to Stark Industries. 

"Mmm, if you keep squirming against me like that, _ástin mín_ , you're not going to make that breakfast meeting you're supposed to be at in..." Loki lifted his head to squint at the projected clock on Tony's nightstand. "...an hour," he finished and took that moment to snuggle back down against Tony's back, rubbing his smooth cheek along that naked shoulder. 

Well now. That was _not_ the voice Tony expected to hear. 

Tony slow-blinked awake. He didn't bolt from the bed or even sit up abruptly to dislodge the Trickster away from him. Despite his heart racing a little more at the thought of being in bed with the enemy, Tony discovered that he had amazing control over his panic reflex. Particularly when Loki's hand caressed from his stomach to his hip and down the curve of his ass to the back of his thigh. 

That was the moment when Tony remembered that he slept naked and from the way Loki felt behind him, so did he. 

"Do you _really_ have to go to that silly meeting, _ástin mín_?" came the inquiry with just the softest hint of a pout to it just before Loki tilted his head and nibbled on the side of Tony's ear. His hand stroked down to the bend of Tony's knee then up the front of his thigh, edging higher and higher...

...and Tony closed his eyes, his mouth falling open to let out the moan of a thirsty man just handed a glass of ice cold water to soothe his throat. He arched his head back and started to rock his hips at that hand that climbed his leg with the skill and confidence of someone who'd been there before and often. 

"I...I...I don't...," Tony stammered and had to lick his lips, as if they were the cause of his usual glibness disappearing. Suddenly, or perhaps not really _suddenly_ but _startlingly_ , he felt just the tips of Loki's fingers against the edge of his dick, and his body twitched, as if it couldn't decide whether or not to full out jump away or stay and enjoy this strange dream or whatever it was that he'd woken up to. 

Loki's laugh was warm across his jaw before the Trickster pulled back. Tony felt his Trickster – _my Trickster_ – slide from their nest. 

"Don't worry, Anthony. I won't rob you of any precious sleep. Not this morning anyway. I know that meeting is important, and I would hate for Pepper to come after me for making you miss it," Loki said in a sleepy but playful tone as he disappeared toward their _en suite_. 

Tony lay there in bed, feeling the sheets behind him grow cold in Loki's absence. He could hear the sounds – familiar sounds? – of Loki in the bathroom. His belly clenched, almost a fear response, and it dawned on him that he missed Loki in the bed with him after mere seconds of him leaving it. He couldn't ever remember a time in his life that he missed someone he'd slept with that quickly. Or, to be fair, at all. Tony had never cared about anyone long enough to want them back in his bed a second time, and now he actually missed someone he never even thought he would like much less share a bed with.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling before he glanced at the half-open bathroom door. Tony saw movement, heard the sound of a flush, the water running in the sink. Bare feet padding across the tile floor. He found himself smiling a little in relief when the door opened and Loki strode back toward the bed. Loki's body left Tony breathless; tall was an understatement, his skin was pale but warm in tone, a sunlit snow-hill, if Tony were pressed for a description, and muscled without being musclebound. Loki's physique was somewhere between that of a dancer's and a skilled fencer's, which made him nimble and dangerous. 

And entirely beautiful. 

"I...'ve still got time to...lie in bed with you," Tony managed, surprised to hear his voice over the rushing of blood through his veins, most heading south in the most inconvenient way. He willed his body to behave, especially when Loki slipped back under the covers and right up against his side. 

"Splendid," Loki purred and nuzzled his cheek against Tony's shoulder before resting it there like a pillow. His hand lay on Tony's sternum, and his eyes closed again. "Oh, and remember to act surprised tonight, ástin mín. Our friends went to a lot of trouble to plan this party for months and wanted it to be a surprise. We can't let them be upset with Vision for letting the cat out of the bag," the Trickster added, tapping his fingers against his love's skin. 

Tony had just begun to relax again, now that his body decided to do what he wanted it to this once, but Loki's comment caught him off guard, and he tilted his head to stare at the top of the head pillowed on his shoulder, those messy raven tresses feathering slightly obscuring Loki's gorgeous face. 

"Party? What party?" he asked and somehow knew he was supposed to remember this. 

Loki huffed out an exasperated sigh and swatted Tony's hip. "What party? Anthony, you've got to be joking. You've already forgotten what tonight is?" He lifted his head to give the other man the look of a fussed cat too bored to strike out. "It's our anniversary. We've been married for a year now, and you've already forgotten our anniversary." Loki _tsked_ but returned his cheek to that warm shoulder, deciding for now to snuggle his partner rather than chastise him further. 

"Anniversary...married...," Tony mumbled and finally thought to look down at his left hand, discovering a ring on his third finger that had been there the whole time without him remembering. It glinted in the early morning light; some sort of combined metals like gold and silver only shinier and more durable than anything he'd ever found on Earth. It must be Asgardian-made, and either way, it left him further stunned to silence as his whole concept of his life dropped out from underneath him and left him dangling over a chasm full of questions he'd sound crazy to ask. 

"...married," he confirmed more for himself and curled his arm around Loki's torso, hand cupped to his shoulder where it connected to his arm. 

* * *

_He's nearing the brink, but he thinks first_

_The parallel universe perhaps could be the perfect scene_

Tony smiled as he listened to another remembrance of his and Loki's wedding, this time from Natasha and Clint, who were also, apparently, a couple in this dream. Or reality. Or alternate universe. He hadn't quite figured it out yet. It had been difficult in the lab trying to pull up research about parallel universes without J.A.R.V.I.S. asking too many questions about why he wanted that research. Tony had to lie to his AI, one of his best friends next to Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper, and that hadn't sat well with him. 

"Tony, you were such a sarcastic ass in that toast you made to Odin," Clint said and chuckled before lifting his beer bottle to his lips. 

"Clint, I don't think those are the things Loki and Tony want to remember," Natasha gently scolded, peeking between Clint and the celebrating married couple. 

But Loki shook his head. 

"Oh no, Clint, please. That was one of the absolute highlights of the reception," the Trickster responded and held out his wine glass to clink it against Clint's beer bottle. "Really, Anthony, it was one of your best speeches ever. Even the All-Mother enjoyed your little digs that couldn't be refuted without causing a scene." Loki kissed Tony's cheek, bringing a light blush above his trimmed goatee. 

He laughed with the others and brought his tumbler to his lips, barely tasting the Breckenridge Dark Arts whiskey that rolled onto his tongue. Tony swallowed and eyed the others, tilting his cheek to press it against Loki's lips. What was awkward at first, the kisses and hugs and hand-holding and other tactile affection with this former enemy, started to feel amazing. 

"Did we...I mean, I'm sure there was..." Tony cleared his throat when he noticed that the other three appeared confused by his stumbling over his words. "I need to watch our wedding footage...and that of the reception," he finally announced, determining that there would have to be video of their special day. "Because...it would be awesome to relive that day," Tony added. Obviously, he couldn't say what he was thinking – that he wanted to see what their wedding and reception had been like because of course, he couldn't remember it since _he_ hadn't actually be there for it. 

Tony hoped that no one at the party asked him what his favorite wedding or reception memories were. 

Loki squeezed Tony's hand. "Sentiment," he teased. "We can watch the video later. After the party's over," came the promise. Leaning close enough for Tony to feel his warm breath against his jaw, Loki whispered, "And then we can relive our honeymoon." 

His grip on the glass tightened so he didn't drop it. Tony's lungs were on fire until he released the breath he held. His ears rang like a reverberating gong that had been struck by the word 'honeymoon', and suddenly, he was grateful that his poker face was on point tonight. 

* * *

_We're gonna time travel tonight_

_Yeah I'm a star and you're a meteorite_

_We've gotta_

_Let's get famous tonight_

During the two weeks since the anniversary party, Tony had watched all the footage of the wedding and reception at least a dozen times. At first, he told himself it was 'for science' because of course, a _wedding video_ would contain all the answers as to why he was here in an alternate universe. It wouldn't tell him how he got here, nor would it hint at where the 'other Tony' had gone. He was taking another man's place here, a man who had history with Loki that somehow led them into falling in love and saying their 'I do's' in front of...well, of all people, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nicholas J. Fury...and representing the Asgardian side of the ceremony, Freya. All in all, Tony thought it had been a beautiful wedding, and their vows to each other brought a tear or two to his eyes, especially when he realized that this other Tony had found a level of romantic bliss that he – this present Tony who didn't belong in this reality – had never stumbled into. Had, in truth, run from as fast as he could. 

He found himself feeling envious of the other Tony. 

He found himself feeling guilty of all the amazing sex he'd been having with Other Tony's husband. Almost. Sex with the bendy, wild Trickster was like nothing he'd ever experienced in his life, and he'd been with plenty of wild men and women. 

Tony reached out and touched the laptop screen where he was currently caught in a loop of videos prior to the wedding. Stark phone videos – because of course, this reality's Tony created a line of cellphones that he used and gave to his nearest and dearest, including Loki – of the couple in Central Park; videos of the couple visiting the museums, going out to dinner, cute videos of them kissing and cuddling, petting dogs on the way to the cafés they frequented together. Hundreds of selfies together, hundreds of random phone-photos taken by their friends. Not to mention all the paparazzi shots of the Princely Power Couple™, and it still blew Tony's mind to see Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard, Rightful King of Jotunheim walking hand-in-hand with him – the Other Tony – up 5th Avenue with a paper cup of tea in his free hand, dressed in jeans, Converse high tops, and a band t-shirt he'd snagged from Tony's collection. How different this Loki was to the Loki he'd met, all black-on-black designer suit attired as if ready to attend the opera, a business luncheon, or a Juggemaffian meeting to determine who got hit that day. 

With each new treasure he uncovered, every new photo or video he discovered, Tony's heart beat faster in his chest and took his stomach along for the whole fluttery ride. All of the research he'd been working on involving time and reality jumping sat untouched while he pored over the life he found himself wishing he'd lived over the last...three years, at least. 

"Anthony, are you _still_ reliving our dating history together?"

Tony looked up to see Loki standing there, hands on his hips, dressed in work-out pants and a sweaty t-shirt. The smile on that gorgeous face took away his coherent thoughts as his more southern brain gave an interested twitch. He blinked and looked at the time. 

He'd been sitting there at this for two and a half hours. 

"You missed lunch, and I assumed you were busy, so I didn't bother you with it, and then James and Natasha challenged me to some sparring in the gym..." Loki gestured at the clothes he wore. His hair was back in a now-messy man-bun, a word the prince thought ridiculous to describe a way to style hair that suited both women and men but was made fun of for the choice to call it 'man-bun'. 

"Oh. Um...sorry about that. We weren't supposed to...meet and have lunch together, were we? Because, babe, if we were..." Tony licked his lips, nervous now that he might have fucked up and neglected his ( _not mine_ ) husband. 

Loki shook his head. "Don't. You're fine, ástin mín. Just make sure you eat a little something before you waste away to nothing," he replied and walked across the room and around Tony's work table. "Though don't eat too late. We _do_ have that double date with Steve and James tonight, and Steve promised it would be fun and different." 

Tony smiled as his eyes followed his ( _not mine!_ ) sexy as fuck husband then looked up at him. He nuzzled the hand that found its way to his cheek then kissed the palm. 

"We have to go all the way to Brooklyn," Tony pretended to whine, as it was that much of an inconvenience either for his drivers to get them there or, if Loki was feeling generous, they apparated over. 

"It'll be fun. He sent us the website to the place we're going after we stuff ourselves full of pizza and beer. It'll be really different, this date. Artistic...creative. Fun. You'll get to have me shirtless out in public," Loki chided gently and leaned down to kiss the top of Tony's head. Then his gaze drifted over to the laptop screen, and that regal nose wrinkled in a way that had stopped Tony's breath a time or two in the last few weeks. 

"I remember that day," Loki stated and shifted closer to stand behind Tony, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and leaning down to brush his lips behind his man's ear. "Those pap really didn't catch my best side," he groused. 

Tony bit his lip to seal in the escaping moan. He brought his hands up to curl around Loki's forearms where they rested near his collarbone. 

"I disagree, babe. First off, I don't think you've got a bad side, and second, this captured a great angle of your perfect ass," Tony informed his husband and tilted his head to kiss that jawline that could cut glass. 

Loki rolled his eyes so hard, it could be heard, but he rewarded Tony with a proper mouth-kiss then slipped around to stand between the inventor and his table full of toys. 

"You're obsessed with my ass, Anthony." It wasn't a complaint. Just an observation, one made multiple times over many years; an assessment Tony was happy to confirm. 

Reaching out, Tony grasped Loki's hips and pulled him between his knees then caressed his hands around and over said perfect ass, giving those firm muscles a possessive squeeze. He leaned forward and nuzzled his face against Loki's stomach.

"I'm all sweaty, ástin mín," he fussed but didn't pull away. Loki brushed his fingers through Tony's hair, leaned down to kiss his crown. 

"Don't care. Been thinking about you all day," Tony confessed. He squeezed again then slid his hands underneath Loki's shirt, fingers catching ticklish spots on his sides, mapping the clench of stomach muscles. He pushed up the shirt and kissed right at the edge of his navel, nipping it, tasting the salt from Loki's skin. His perfect skin. In getting to know this husband, Tony had discovered old scars etched into Loki, telling ancient stories, bringing up a thousand questions he wanted to ask but wasn't certain if they'd been asked before. He didn't want to be called out for possibly asking a second time about those faint lines across Loki's mouth like near perfect stitches through his lips. 

Loki's head tilted back for just a gasp then lifted and looked down, spellbound by the sight of his husband's mouth on his stomach. As Tony continued to push his shirt up, Loki curled his fingers into the hem and tugged it over his head, letting it fall to the floor. 

"And if someone comes down here?" was Loki's breathless reply to the direction this was about to take. 

Tony's gaze stole up Loki's chest as it was brought into full view, and with that arrogant twinkle in his eyes, he teased the tip of his tongue right into his love's bellybutton. "Not a problem, and you know that from...all the other times," he stated. "J.A.R.V.I.S., engage the 'Sexy Times' protocol on my lab please."

As he stared up into Loki's eyes, all around them, the lights in the lab dimmed by at least forty percent, and the floor to ceiling windows and doors tinted to appear as if no one was in the lab at all. The doors locking was also audible, and no one dared to come into Tony's lab when it was dark and locked up. Tony had stumbled on this interesting little feature while he was learning everything that his 'this reality' counterpart had come up with that was clearly different from his own reality. The name gave away why the other Tony had created this protocol, not to mention that the timestamp of his making it coincided with when all the records showed intimacy with Loki. 

"Mmm...my love and his toys," Loki purred and tugged at Tony's t-shirt. "I get so busy with everything else that I forget you've got a kinky mind, ástin mín," he added as he pulled the shirt off and dropped it to the floor with his own. 

A low, almost growl-like chuckle pressed into Loki's belly from Tony's warm lips. "Don't give me that, Rock of Ages. You never forget my kinky mind," he ribbed his love and pushed himself up to his feet, leaning down to trail his kisses from navel to chest, right over his heartbeat. 

Loki's laughter, when it was genuine and without hints of regret or bitterness, was like music to Tony's ears, as cliché as that was. It rang through his mind and rocked through his whole being like his ribs were a gong and the sound of that laugh was the mallet. 

"What?" Tony asked, lifting his eyes to Loki's to find them full of amusement and love. 

"You haven't called me that since..." Loki let out a deep sigh. " _Since_. I didn't understand it then...I barely understand it now, but it's sweet...that you'd remember our beginnings after all this time." 

Tony had to blink at Loki's words and remembered that this reality's time was farther away than what he last remembered, which hadn't been but a year after the Battle of New York. All of those nicknames were still fresh in his mind. Before Loki could ask too many questions about this slight hesitation, Tony ran his hands over his hips and back and ass, just needing to touch him, as if this could be the last time. He pressed his lips to Loki's throat. 

"I'll remember that you find those nicknames endearing now," Tony murmured warm into Loki's collarbone as he pressed him against his table. 

"Well, I wouldn't want you to neglect all of the other endearments you call me now," Loki said as he adjusted his hips. He caressed a foot against the side of Tony's leg and held him close while their mouths slotted together, pulling a moan out of each man. Their hips ground together, arousing each other more than their flirting had already made them, and Loki wanted the rest of his clothes off before the friction of their bodies caught them both on fire. It would be so easy to just sweep everything from Tony's desk onto the floor, but...

Tony's mind already supplied the consequences, and he pulled Loki toward him, arms grasping him tight as he maneuvered them away from the desk and toward the couch, having done this so many times before – or at least, 'other reality Tony' had, and thankfully, it transferred to him now – that they could find their way with just their feet. It was stacked with magazines and manuals, but he had no qualms in kicking them out of the way where they landed in a chaos of science articles on the floor. He angled himself to fall back on the couch and pulled Loki with him, turning, squirming around until his love was pinned in a tangle of limbs underneath him. 

It was a delight to Tony to discover, as he had no doubt that his counterpart had discovered before him that the elegant prince, always so regal in his movements and bearings, could turn into a clumsy teenager like the rest of them when it came to squirming out of clothes mid-passion. 

Loki slipped his hands between them to tug open Tony's jeans and pushed them off of his hips. Likewise, Tony pulled at Loki's workout pants, and to divest each other of all shreds of clothing became a feral and sudden need. They managed to yank the rest of their clothes away; none of them were ripped as they dropped from to the floor. And now their hands returned to each other's bodies, grasping across lines of muscle and sinew. Loki parted his thighs and pulled Tony between them, grabbing handfuls of his ass, gasping against the lips pressed to his when Tony's thumbs grazed over his nipples. 

Through his brain-haze, Tony realized that he had no idea where the 'other him' kept the lube down here. He'd discovered the Sexy Times Protocol, but he hadn't discovered anything they'd need for the sexy times. As with Loki's scars, he didn't want to ask questions he should know the answers to; instead of inquiries, he teased Loki's mouth with his own, flicking his tongue along his parted lips and moaning when Loki's hands traveled up his back, digging manicured nails just deep enough to bring a sharp hiss from the inventor, and then one of those hands lifted away from his body. 

"Need...this," Loki mumbled against Tony's lips and handed him what looked like an old fashioned perfume bottle made from the palest rose-colored glass with a stopper made from the same. When he set it into Tony's hand, it was already warmed from the spell he'd placed on it, something that Tony decided he loved _a lot_ since tumbling into sex with the Trickster. He suspected his Other Self from this time loved it, too, but he shoved thoughts of him aside because he didn't want any shade of guilt coloring this moment. 

"Mmhmm," Tony murmured back into the kisses. 

He pulled back long enough to put the lubricant to use, pouring liberally over his fingers and into his other palm to coat his hard-on. Tony fumbled the stopper back into the bottle, sat up, and leaned over to the table to set the bottle down, but before he could return to those parted thighs to prime Loki, he was pushed into the back of the couch, and those parted thighs stretched across his lap.

"Well, hello there, gorgeous," he rumbled and leaned up to capture those lips in a kiss they'd both feel in their toes. Tony's hands went about their work, stroking himself again and slipping between those perfect cheeks to tease slicked fingers against Loki's tight hole. At first, they just pressed against it and slid down to stroke his taint because Tony wanted to watch him jump and squirm, and every deep-throated moan made Tony's cock harder. 

Another pass of Tony's fingers eased the resistance, and he slipped them one at a time inside Loki. Soft whimpery moans and those coiling hips urged him to keep up the thorough measure, even as he brought both shafts together in long, even strokes. His head rested against the back of the couch, eyes fixed on Loki's face, which furrowed as the pleasure began to cut through him like hot steel. The world Tony had come from had known him as the bisexual playboy who wouldn't settle down with one person if his life depended on it. This world knew him as the former playboy turned loving, doting husband, and he found he liked that even more. 

"A-Anthony...," stammered Loki, and then he licked his dry lips as the breaths he dragged in burned his lungs. "...need you...," he muttered and opened his eyes to stare deep into Tony's. He rolled his hips to take those fingers deeper as well as thrust into that slippery, warm palm. 

Loki nodded at Tony, and Tony nodded back at Loki and pulled his fingers free of that slicked heat. Tony cupped his hands to Loki's hips and steadied him as he lifted up and steered himself onto his eager cock. Both were too slippery for there to be any resistance, and all it took was for Loki to wriggle his hips and down he went, haunches taut to make that first thrust sweet and slow. To drive Tony just as feverish as Loki was. 

"Oh...oh darlin'...," Tony moaned and gave his love a playfully accusatory glare over the torturous pace. He gripped Loki's hips tighter, glancing down to see his fingers dimpling into that creamy flesh. Even if he left bruises, Loki didn't seem to mind – depending on where the bruises were – and they didn't last very long thanks to his Jotun super-healing. Tony caressed his thumbs along Loki's hipbones, and as he was lowered all the way down his length, he leaned forward and kissed the center of his husband's chest then tilted his head side to side to tease each nipple in turn, blowing cool breath on them to make them as hard as the cock that bumped against his stomach. 

"Mmm...hm...heh...'oh darlin'," Loki chided then lost his words when Tony tormented his nipples. He arched his back and gasped and started rolling his hips and riding his husband at a steady lick. "Oh darlin' what, my heart? S-something you wa- _ahnt_?" he managed, voice pitched as the angle of Tony's cock hit his insides scrumptiously. 

Tony drove his hips up at the sight of Loki in the hub of ecstasy, and they'd just started. Loki responded to that sharp thrust by grinding down against Tony, and this set off the chain of give and take, push and pierce until neither could tell who moaned, who whimpered, and who whined unless a name fell from one or the other's lips. Loki gripped the back of the couch and leaned down until he could devour Tony's mouth, which muffled the cries as soon as his cock started pushing up harder into his slick heat. Just when Loki thought he had the upper hand, so to speak, in controlling their rhythm overall, Tony tripped that sway by curling his hand once more around Loki's cock. He felt Loki shudder and melt against him, unable to hold onto his restraint once that warm, still-oiled palm stroked him in pace with his thrusts, once he started moving again. 

"...not...not playing fair...," Loki protested half-heartedly, even as he fell into cadence with his love's strokes. 

Loki cupped the back of Tony's neck and kissed him again and again. And again. He teased his husband's tongue with his own, flicking and swirling around it just as he would his cock had it taken that turn instead of this one. His hips rose and fell, his heat gripping Tony just as he was gripped and squeezed and pushed toward the pleasure they chased together. Tony bit and sucked on Loki's bottom lip and growled when his love moaned even deeper at that. 

"Why would I play fair with the God of Mischief?" Tony purred and soothed that bite with a kiss. 

"Oh you..." 

Loki pecked Tony's lips several times in a row, punctuating each one with a sharp thrust of his hips, taking his love deeper each time. Tony's wrist stilled at the resolute drive of the pace Loki set now, pushing them harder now. He flexed his hand to squeeze Loki's cock, and the gasps turned to whines turned to moans told him his love was just as close as he was. Tony kept squeezing, like a heartbeat, like the pulse of blood through that organ he held, and in turn, Loki rode him until the fire in their veins was too much for either of them to endure. 

First, Loki fell from those great heights, spilling Tony's name from his lips as he covered his abs with his release. Loki gulped air into his lungs and pushed on, driving himself onto Tony until his love's hands seized his hips and held him still. Tony's head arched against the couch, eyes squeezed tight, lips parted as his own howls bounced off the ceiling the moment he came inside Loki. Both stilled against one another. Loki's hands braced the back of the couch on either side of Tony's head, his chest and belly surging in and out with every breath; Tony's only eased back from the bruises they left on Loki's waist when his own breathing and heartbeat began to steady. 

Tony opened his eyes and stared up at Loki, and another wave crashed through him, mind and heart captives to the love he realized every day that he now felt – the love his other self in this world must have felt, had felt so deeply that he'd overcome nightmares and distrust to fall so willingly into his arms. He brought one hand up, cupping Loki's sweaty jaw, his thumb trailing back and forth across his chin. 

"Absolutely beautiful," Tony breathed and blurted out, "I love you, Loki. So fucking much." 

Loki dipped his head and kissed at Tony's thumb and nuzzled his hand. Slowly, his eyes opened, polished peridot contemplation of those words as a smile drew back his lips. 

"I love you, too, Anthony. Ástin mín." 

He touched his forehead to Tony's and felt his pulse begin to match his love's. Loki felt Tony's arms wrap around him and pull him close, but the Jotun was always hesitant about lying directly against the mortal's when all of his weight was behind it. Still, he dared as close as he could so he didn't crush Tony's ribs. Or the arc reactor. That would be bad. 

"So, my heart, are you ever going to take Shuri up on her offer to remove the shrapnel from around your heart?" 

Tony was settling into the hum and tranquility these post-coital moments with Loki left him with. Nothing could make him want to be anywhere else, unless, of course, it was Loki coaxing him up to their bedroom. Then he wanted to be there even more than here. Loki's question jerked him back to the reality that this wasn't _his_ reality, and trip-wires like that had to be handled delicately or else he would lose everything. Tony stirred when he heard familiar whirring and peeked up in time to see DUM-E moving toward them, a plush blanket gripped in his appendage; he took the blanket gratefully, thanked the AI, and then draped it across Loki's back. 

"Uhhh...I uh...hadn't really given it any thought lately, Lokes. I mean, what with our anniversary and all that," he covered. He hoped. After a few seconds of consideration, he asked, "So, you think I oughta take the Princess up on that offer?" 

* * *

_Home is where I want to be_

_Pick me up and turn me around_

_I feel numb, born with a weak heart_

_I guess I must be having fun (...)_

_Oh! I got plenty of time_

_Oh! You got light in your eyes_

_And you're standing here beside me_

_I love the passing of time_

_Never for money, always for love_

_Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight_

It took another three weeks for Tony to contact Shuri and quite a bit of fumbling around his words – and a lot of talking himself out of that shot of whiskey he wanted so bad to make the pride go away and the words come – to finally admit that he was _curious_ about taking her up on her offer about the shrapnel. 

_"It's just...well, I've got Loki now, and...heh, yes, thank you for the happy anniversary wishes, kiddo, but...I've got to think about my own longevity. After all, he's already got nine hundred or so years on me..."_

Now, the month and a half later it took to convince himself to actually come here, he lay prepped on a table, bared from the chest up, hooked up to the latest in Wakandan technology. Shuri's promise that he'd still have the arc reactor to power his suit still buzzed in his mind that was growing a little fuzzier by the second. He looked up to see Loki walk over long enough to kiss is forehead, and he noticed that the surgery lights made his husband's eyes glow like cosmic stones. 

"You still gonna love me when my heart's all strong and out of danger again?" Tony blurbled as the drugs were starting to put him in that...head-buzzy groovy state. 

Loki smiled down at him and kissed his slurring slips. 

"My Anthony, I'm going to love you until the end of time, and given all the tricks up my sleeves, I'll see to it that time stretches on and on for us," he assured his lethargic husband. "Now you just relax, and I'll be here when you wake up," Loki promised. 

The last thing Tony remembered was the promise and one last kiss, but it was enough to insure that he would come out of this with even more energy to remind Loki every day of that vow. 

* * *

_Hit and run, blow my mind_

_Get it together, leave your future behind_

_DNA, make my day_

_Found the key to a parallel universe_

_Found the key to a parallel universe_

_Don't tell me I've lost it_

_Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone_

It was the gray light that gently tugged him from sleep. 

Tony felt the soft sheets around him and thought he must have already been moved to a private room within Wakanda's medical facility. He let out a soft murmur as he shifted under the covers and waited for the promise of a kiss that never came. Frowning, he opened his eyes and wondered if T'Challa was entertaining Loki to make sure he ate instead of worried. 

He was in his room in the penthouse. The decorations were all the same but lacking in those elegant touches that had been the Jotun prince's. 

Touching his chest, he felt the arc reactor there the same as it had been. There were no bandages, no signs of surgery. 

Tony blinked then stared at the ceiling and realized the absolute worst had happened. He'd returned to his own universe. His own life without Loki in it. 

Or was it?

He threw back the covers and launched himself from the bed, pulling up the pair of jeans from the floor to slither into even as he moved across the bedroom to grab a t-shirt. 

"J.A.R.V.I.S., is Thor in the building? Tell him I need to talk to him immediately. It's of the utmost importance. It's about Loki." 

"Sir, are you sure that's something you want to talk with Mr. Odinson about this early in the morning?" 

"Do it. Wake him up if you have to. This is...this is life or death," Tony fussed at his AI. 

"Life or death? Mr. Stark, isn't that a bit of a hyperbole..." 

Tony made an attempt and putting on deodorant and brushing his teeth then raked his fingers through his hair and headed to the elevator without even bothering with shoes. 

"Do it. It's a matter of my life or death and how pathetic and lonely I wind up. Oh, and let Pepper know that I'm not coming to any meetings today, and...um. Um...OH! And get a hold of Shuri...T'Challa's baby sister. See if she's already comfortable doing surgeries. Ask her what she knows about removing shrapnel. I have a feeling I'm gonna need her expertise once I have this other project in hand." 

He climbed into the elevator and headed down to the floor with the communal kitchen, dining room, and living room. Tony searched his memories of the past several months – though in truth, it didn't seem as if he'd been gone from this time at all – for anything he was leaving out. Just as the doors opened again and he stepped out to go to the kitchen, since coffee was going to be essential before he started to poke the sleepy Asgardian bear, he thought of something else.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., jot this down under 'lab notes'. Sexy Times Protocol. Don't ask questions yet, just take it down and highlight it as _muy importante_." 

Tony chuckled to himself, his brain online now, as it were, firing on all circuits. First things first: make coffee, ply Thor with buckets of coffee then find out where they could find Loki. 

He had a future to build. 

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic came from From Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Parallel Universe".
> 
> Exerpt 1: From "Kubla Khan" by Coleridge
> 
> Exerpt 2: From Arctic Monkeys' "D Is For Dangers"
> 
> Link 1: [Breckenridge Dark Arts whiskey](https://www.caskers.com/breckenridge-dark-arts-malt-mash-whiskey/?/?utm_campaign=USC%20-%20Shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2b7uBRDsARIsAEE9XpGpMWWpJyzQoz8l2GlH7POgI6Lj_3qzyoGwqa8R7UmyrsbKNlbAWSkaAkhIEALw_wcB)
> 
> Exerpt 3: From Robin Black's "Time Travel Tonight"
> 
> Reference 1: The Serbian mafia in Scandinavia, also known as "Juggemaffian" ("Yugo Mafia") is an organized crime group in Sweden and Denmark.
> 
> Exerpt 4: From Talking Heads' "This Must Be the Place"
> 
> Exerpt 5: From Super Furry Animals' "Hit and Run"


End file.
